The stock market is exciting. The idea of winning big is incredibly appealing, but it can also be dangerous. If you want to keep “playing,” you need to learn how to overcome losses.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many investors were looking for companies that could survive and even grow during these turbulent times. Adam Koplucki, founder of RealWorldInvestor.com, is one of those investors. He bought Peloton stock when it was popular, expecting it to keep rising.
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“I bought Peloton near its peak, and the stock has since fallen,” Koprucki said.
In the end, Koprucki lost $10,000. “It’s a very depressing experience,” he said. “You hear a lot of success stories, but the reality is that there are probably far more losses than gains. You just don’t hear about it as much.”
No matter how confident an investor is, investing always involves significant risk. Koprucki learned that the hard way.
Despite his experience losing money, Koprucki didn’t give up on investing completely. Instead, he changed his approach. Here are his four reasons why one man is still investing even though he lost $10,000 in the stock market.
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The stock market is resilient
Market declines are scary. After Koprucki lost so much money with Peloton, you can’t blame him if he doesn’t want to invest again.
But he knew the stock market was resilient. There will always be ups and downs and you have to accept this fact if you want to be part of it. This knowledge gave him enough confidence to continue with it for the long term.
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Post-retirement goals
Koprucki decided to take a long-term approach to investing. His goal was not to make a fortune overnight, but rather to build up enough savings over a number of years for a comfortable retirement. He insisted on putting his money into proven long-term investment strategies. He knew it wouldn’t make him an instant millionaire, but it was a safer bet that promised steady, reliable growth over several decades.
“I still invest long-term for retirement purposes, not for get-rich-quick reasons,” he said.
future vision
Koprucki continues to return to that vision. It means staying the course and riding out trends.
He realized that to be successful in investing, you need to understand that the stock market always has good days and bad days, good months and bad months, and even good years and bad years. I did. But smart investors just keep investing.
“Long-term investing requires ignoring short-term fluctuations of days, months, or even years,” Koplucki said. “Focus on your long-term goals.”
Switching to index funds
But after his experience with Peloton, Koplucki changed his investment approach. Since the stock market can fluctuate from time to time, he decided to invest his money primarily in index funds rather than individual stocks.
“I’ve learned to avoid ‘hot’ stocks and stick to traditional index fund investing,” Koplucki said.
Successful stock picking requires making educated guesses about which companies will grow and which companies will decline, but index funds avoid this challenge. Rather than making targeted bets, you are essentially investing in entire segments of the market. This makes it much less risky than betting everything on just one company’s stock.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Lost $10,000 in the Stock Market: 4 Reasons I’m Still Investing
